Artificial denture



Nov; 7, 1950 G. A. WIECHERT ARTIFICIAL DENTURE Filed Oct. 14, 1948 FIG.2.

FIG. I.

FIG. 4.

FIG. 3.

INVENTOR GEORGE A. WIECHERT Biz/F ORNEY Patented Nov. 7, 1950 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE ARTIFICIAL DENTURE George A. Wiechert, St. Albans,N. Y. Application October 14, 1948, Serial No. 54,393

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to artificial teeth and to means for comfortableand efficient mastication of food and more particularly tometallioposterior teeth having tapered drainage channels and hollowground blades though it is noted that in some of the claims theinvention is not limited to metallic teeth nor even to posterior teeth.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved device andapparatus of this kind which will provide a protected or recessedupstanding hollow ground sharp cutting edge to comminute fibrous foodand will function with a minimum pressure on the supporting tissues.

Other objects of the invention are to provide an improved device of thiskind which includes a hollow ground cutting blade bucco-directed so thattransverse motion of the teeth will easily cause cutting of the foodfibers and is substantially out of reach by the tongue.

Additional objects of the invention are to effect simplicity andefiiciency in such apparatus and to provide an extremely simple deviceor apparatus of this kind which is economical, durable, comfortable andreliable in operation, and economical to manufacture and install inplates.

Still other objects of the invention will appear as the descriptionproceeds; and while hereindetails of the invention are described in thespecification and some of the claims, the invention as described in someof the broader claims is not 3 limited to these, and many and variouschanges may be made without departing from the scope of the invention asdescribed.

The inventive features for the accomplishment of these and other objectsare shown herein in connection with dentures which briefly statedinclude a plate and a shell mounted thereon forming a tooth having anupwardly pointed blade extending in amesio-distally direction, andanterior or posterior of the main body of the tooth.

In the accompanying drawing showing,.by way of example, two of manypossible embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a plan front side and elevation showing the invention asembodied in a lower plate,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan of a pair of teeth,

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view showing the upstandingblade,'the section being taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2looking in the direction of the arrows of said line; and

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view showing other features ofthe teeth, the section being taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig.

2 looking in the direction of the arrows of said line.

The dentures include a plate It) and sets of metallic teeth ll, securedto the plate. The invention is not limited to any @particular number ofteeth for they may be in composite groups of several as shown in Fig. 1.However it has been found satisfactory to employ two on each side as acombination lower molar and bicuspid [2, Fig. 3, which may be interposedbetween conventional teeth of, for instance, porcelain. In factsatisfactory results may be obtained when only one metallic tooth isused.

The metal I prefer to use possesses strength, resilience, toughness withthe absence of brittleness, ability to stand severe strains andstresses, inertness to mouth fluids and yet it must be capable of beingshaped with great accuracy. Many such metals are commonly calledstainless steels and are well known to the art and usually containsubstantial proportions of chromium, nickel and/or cobalt.

One such alloy is described in United States Patent 1,958,446 though myinvention is not limited to any particular composition of the material.Any non-metallic material possessing the above physical characteristicswould be suitable.

The form of the invention as illustrated in Fig. 2 comprises a molarportion l4 and a bicuspid portion I5 constricted at the mid-portiontherebetween. As shown, each extreme end portion and the mid-portion arehollow ground to form upstanding blades I6, I! and I8. Of course theblades 16 and I8 may be omitted if desired, or, for instance, thebicuspid portion l5 may be omitted and the blade ll retained. Theremaining molar portion l4 could be employed between twoconventionalteeth.

It will be noted that the surfaces 19 andZil' which meet to formtheedgeof the blade ll are smooth and steep so that food which is cut by theblade is constantly forced, by additional food being cut, into the everwidening notches 2| and 22 where the food is picked up by the juices ofthe mouth on the buccal and lingual sides.

' The blades I6, I! and I8 rise no higher than the occlusal surface 24so that the blades are well protected and are not dangerous to thetongue.

The greater part of the occlusal portion on the buccal side issubstantially removed to leave a more or less flat surface 25 which willnot trap food. This surface 25 does not extend quite to the blades I6,I! and I8. The occlusal surface 24 is slightly under-cut to form ahollow ground edge 26 directed upwardly and buccally. This edge 26 isalmost physically out of reach by the tongue and presents no hazardthereto.

The occlusal lingual surface 24 is provided with indentations 28 whichprovide a number of peripheral chisel edges 29 as distinguished from thehollow ground edge I6, l1, l8 and 26.

The edge 26 is shown as a straight line in Fig. 2 for clarity but itwill be appreciated that the occlusal surface 24 is not usually smoothand hence in practice the undercut edge 26 will usually appear somewhatsinuous.

Tests have demonstrated that one blade between the molar and bicuspid isexceedingly efficient for mastication of foods such as meats. There isno more trouble from the clogging of food than is met with natural teethand it in nowise endangers the tongue.

The illustrations in the drawing are merely to show the inventivefeatures of the teeth and conventional means may be employed forsecuring them in the gum portions. The uppers may be metallic teethcorresponding to those shown, but ordinary porcelain uppers aregenerally satisfactory.

The invention claimed is:

1. An artificial metallic tooth having an occlusal surface provided withsubstantially round indentations on the lingual side portions of saidocclused surface, the upper buccal surface being lower than the occlusalsurface and nearly fiat and substantially smooth, and of about the samearea as the occlusal surface, said buccal surface at its lingual limitbeing curved upwardly and slightly outwardly to form an undercut edgewith the occlusal surface.

2. A lower metallic denture having molar and bicuspid teeth, each toothhaving an occlusal milling surface extending transversely from thelingual side of the tooth to about half way to the buccal side of thetooth and substantially the length of each tooth, the height of thetoothin the buccal side being lower than said surface, said denturehaving respectively deep buccal and lingual recesses between the teethand a vertical hollow ground blade projecting upwardly between saidteeth no higher than said surfaceand lying in a substantiallymesio-distal plane, the extent of said surface terminating past saidblade in a buccal direction.

3. A lower metallic denture having molar and bicuspid teeth, each toothhaving an occlusal milling surface extending transversely from thelingual side of the tooth and substantially the length of each tooth,said denture having deep buccal and lingual recesses respectivelybetween said teeth and a vertical hollow groundstraight bladeprojectingupwardly between said'teeth no higher than said surface and lying insubstantially a mesio-distal plane, the base of said blade being betweenthe teethat said recesses and becoming wider toward the bottom.

4. A lower metallic denture having molar and bicuspid teeth, each toothhaving an occlusal milling surface extending transversely from thelingual side of the tooth to about half way to the 5 buccal side of' thetooth and substantially the length of each tooth, said denture havingdeep buccal and lingual recesses respectively between said teeth and avertical hollow ground straight blade projecting upwardly between saidteeth no higher than said surface and lying in substantially amesio-distal plane, the base of said blade being between the teeth atsaid recesses and becoming wider toward the bottom, and forming a Wallpartially bounding and dividing said recesses from each other,

5. A lower metallic denture having molar and bicuspid teeth, each toothhaving an occlusal milling surface extending transversely from thelingual side of the tooth to about half way to the buccal side of thetooth and substantially the length of each tooth, said denture havingrespectively deep buccal and lingual recesses between the teeth and avertical hollow ground straight blade projecting upwardly between saidteeth no higher than said surface and lying in substan tially amesio-distal plane, the extent of said surface terminating past saidblade ina buccal direction, the upper face of the teeth on the buccalside being below said surface and substantially flat, said recessesbeing bounded by mesal and distal ends of the respectiveteeth at eachside and by the blade at the back.

6. A lower metallic denture having molar and bicuspid teeth each toothhaving an occlusal milling surface extending transversely from the lingual side of the tooth to about half wayto the buccal side of the toothand substantially the length of each tooth, the upper face of the teethon the buccal side being below said'surfaceand substantially fiat, saidface and surfacerneeting in an undercut substantially straight edge, andupstanding substantially straight blades one at each end of the dentureand one between said teeth providing blades parallel with said edge,the' base of each said blade being substantially'concave on each sideand free from structure in buccal and lingual directions so that foodcutby the blades will be cammed outwardly by the faces of the blades andmeet no obstruction by theiden- 50 ture.

GEORGE,A.WIECHERT.

REFERENCES CITED h The following references'are' of record in-the fileof this patentz Y v UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name 7 V p Date2,095,432 Brenner Oct. 12, 1937 2,113,568 Andrus Apr: 12 "1938"2,375,509 Wiechert 1 May"8, 1945

